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N MEMORY 



JOHN JORDAN, JR. 



ADDRESSES AND PROCEEDINGS 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA, 





ON THE DEATH OF 



JOHN JORDAN, Jr., 

A VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY, 



HELD APRIL 28, 1 8 O. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

PRINTED BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. 

18 90. 



ADDRESSES AND PROCEEDINGS. 



A Special Meeting of the Society was held in the Hall 
on Monday evening, April 28, 1890, in memory of the late 
John Jordan, Jr., the President, Brinton Coxe, Esq., in the 
chair. A large and sympathetic audience was in attendance. 
The President, in calling the meeting to order, said, — 

Ladies and Gentlemen : 

"We have met to-night to say that which is uppermost in 
our hearts. 

Mr. Jordan was the guardian and father of this Society, 
and, as such, I was one of those nearest to him. When he 
and I sat in our respective places, on opposite sides of the 
table in the North room, our relations seemed more like 
those of a father and son conferring upon the management 
of a family than those of two officials administering a pub- 
lic institution. 

I have always thought that I fully appreciated the fact 
that he was the guardian and father of the Society, but now 
that he is gone and I meditate upon his life and our loss, 
my sorrow and anxiety convince me that I appreciate him 
more deeply than I ever did before. 

He died without pain and in the fulness of years, sur- 
rounded by the love of all who knew him. After he had 



/ 



vi In Memory of John Jordan^ Jr. 

set his house in order, after he had seen that his and our 
society was in order, he passed away in perfect peace. 

Mr. Jordan lived to a great age, and nearly half of his 
long life was passed in daily care, and much of it in daily 
work, for our society. When we came to the hall and 
found him neither standing in the South rooms nor sitting 
in the North room, it seemed as if the host was absent 
from the house. He was always the chief personage within 
it. He would, indeed, always have been the chief person 
here, even if he had not lived so much among us. The 
of&cials, the councillors, and the trustees have for forty 
years, with but few exceptions, been elected or appointed 
according to his choice or preference. I am at my post 
because he selected me. All my colleagues are at their posts 
because it was his selection or wish that they should be 
there. 

The membership of our Society is remarkably representa- 
tive of our community, and it is so largely on account of 
him. A sympathetic writer has well said that he was a 
representative Pennsylvanian of the best type. It was as 
such that he acted on behalf of the Historical Society of 
Pennsylvania, and so drew so many other representative 
persons within its fold. Besides, too, his private, his social, 
his family, and his ecclesiastical relations extended widely 
throughout the Commonwealth. In many places in it be- 
sides Philadelphia tears have been shed for him. He was 
at home throughout a large area of Pennsylvania. At 
Bethlehem and at Nazareth there are houses of mourning, 
as well as at Philadelphia. In English and in German both 
he is mourned. As was natural, with a man of his pru- 
dence, and inevitable with a man who was such a personi- 
fication of trustworthiness, he had many friends who looked 
up to him for counsel and guidance. His personal influ- 



Addresses and Proceedings. vii 

ence thus, unconsciously as well as intentionally, affected 
the membership. His friends became naturally friends, and 
so members, of a Society whose membership was largely 
based upon public confidence in him. 

Not only as to persons, but also as to material things, 
was he the most important member of our institution. 
The mere aggregate of his gifts to it, during half of his 
long life, places him among its most munificent donors, but 
that aggregate by no means represents the importance of 
his generosity. Much of what he gave was given in the 
time of its greatest need ; when the Society was struggling 
for existence; when, as Townsend Ward tersely put it, 
John Jordan, Jr., was not only the treasurer but the treas- 
ury of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. In this, as 
in every other point of view, he was the friend in need. 
Furthermore, it was he who was in large measure the 
cause of our other benefactors selecting the Society for their 
benefactions. Thus, without the confidence with which 
he inspired Mr. Gilpin and his family, the Gilpin Fund 
might never have existed. "Without a faith in the dura- 
bility of his accomplished work on the part of the com- 
munity, the great subscription, which gave us a home of 
our own, might never have been secured. 

Mr. Jordan's devotion to our institution was an enlight- 
ened one. It was based upon conviction as well as feeling. 
It came from heart and head both. He loved the Society 
dearly, very dearly, through long, long years, but it was as 
a means to an end. In practical life it was the Historical 
Society of Pennsylvania, but in principle it was the history 
of Pennsylvania, which was the object of his devotion. 
The history of Pennsylvania is a great and a profound sub- 
ject, but the history of no State equals it in difficulty, from 
and including the Indian times. In no State, therefore, is 



viii In Memory of John Jordan, Jr. 

it so necessary for an historical society to be well organized 
on solid and broad foundations and to have a strong mem- 
bership for investigations of every sort. A variety of in- 
vestigators with independent points of view is peculiarly 
needed by our difficult history. We need members of all 
ages, old and young. The necessity of the Historical Society 
being what the history of Pennsylvania demanded that it shoxdd 
he, ivas the key of Mr. Jordan's devotion to it. This Society 
was especially the place where the civil side of his devo- 
tion to public duty was manifested. Bethlehem and Naza- 
reth were especially the places where another side of that 
devotion was manifested. And now the end has come. 
He has passed away in perfect peace. His works live after 
him. The noblest of them is the one which our present 
members will ever recall, when young members shall ask 
them in time to come what his portrait means : it is the 
noble and modest example which his life has given us in 
private and public duty. 

The President then introduced Dr. James J. Levick, who 
read the following Memorial Address : 

In every household there is one of the family who holds 
pre-eminence of position there. Men call the house by his 
name ; its very existence seems bound up in his existence ; 
while, to the family itself, he is their comforter in sorrow, 
their counsellor in doubt, their protector from danger, their 
helper whenever help is needed. Death comes, and the 
place which has known him knows him no more. For a 
time it seems as if the very life of the family had gone out 
with the life of him who has left it, and when, at last, its 
daily duties are again taken up by survivors, it is with a 
painful, ever-recurring sense of a vacant place at the hearth 



Addresses and Proceedings. ix 

and a vacant place in the heart which can never again be 
filled as they have been. 

It is in the full sense of just such a loss, fellow-mem- 
bers of the Historical Society, that we meet to-night in 
tender, loving, filial remembrance of one who, for fifty 
years a member of this household, for more than thirty 
years has been so closely identified with its daily life, that, 
even now, we cannot think of these rooms without seem- 
ing to see, quietly moving about in them, the venerable 
form of him who was indeed pre-eminent in our household, 
our counsellor in doubt, our helper whenever help was 
needed. 

John Jordan, Jr., the son of John and Elizabeth (Henry) 
• Jordan, was born in Philadelphia, May 18, 1808. His 
paternal ancestors were Germans, but the name is traced 
by the family to an earlier ancestor, who, soon after the 
revocation of the Edict of E'antes, left France for Ger- 
many, whither many of his fellow-countrymen had already 
gone. 

Soon after his arrival in Philadelphia, in 1738, the elder 
Jordan removed to Hunterdon County, N". J., where he 
resided during the remainder of his life. Frederick Jordan, 
son of the emigrant, was born at Mt. Pleasant, ]^. J., a.d. 
1744, and married Catharine, daughter of Henry Eckel, a 
native of Hannau, Germany. Frederick Jordan was a 
well-to-do farmer, owning several mills, who managed his 
business with shrewdness and fidelity, securing for himself 
and family a comfortable independence. His son, John 
Jordan, Sr., was born at the family seat, Mt. Pleasant, Sep- 
tember 1, 1770. From an early age the boy showed great 
aptitude for business, and, after the death of his father, 
when but fifteen years of age, was sent to the counting- 
house of Godfrey Haga, a relative by marriage, and a well- 



X In Memory of John Jordan, Jr. 

known merchant of Philadelphia, where, in subsequent 
years, he succeeded him in business. 

John Jordan, Sr., married Elizabeth, the daughter of 
the Hon. William Henry, Judge of the Northampton and 
Monroe County districts, and who as a Presidential Elec- 
tor cast his vote for General Washington at his second 
nomination for the Presidency. 

John Jordan, Jr.'s, career in life was so much influenced 
by his grandfather Henry's care and interest for him that 
he deserves at least a brief notice in this sketch of his 
grandson. Judge Henry was the great-grandson of Kobert 
Henry, a Scotchman, who came to America from Coleraine, 
Ireland, in the year 1722, and settled in Chester County, 
Pennsylvania. William Henry, the grandson of Robert, 
was brought up in Lancaster, apprenticed to Matthew 
Roeser, a gun-maker there. 

Upon the breaking out of the Indian War, in 1754, he 
was appointed Armorer to the troops collected for Brad- 
dock's expedition. He again accompanied the troops on 
the second outbreak of the Indian War. Returning to 
Lancaster, he entered into the iron and hardware business. 
He was a man of much natural ability, was an early friend 
of the artist Benjamin West, a member of the American 
Philosophical Society, and the inventor of several ingeni- 
ous pieces of machinery. He signed the non-importation 
paper of the merchants of Philadelphia, was a member of 
the Assembly from Lancaster, and of the Continental Con- 
gress, and President Judge of the County. He was en- 
gaged in the manufacture of rifles for the State of Penn- 
sylvania, and a commissary under Washington. 

His son William Henry, grandfather of the subject of this 
memoir, was also engaged in the manufacture of fire-arms, 
and in the year 1778 removed to the Moravian settlement. 



Addresses and Pi 

Christian's Spring, near E'azareth, and later to Nazareth. 
In 1798 he contracted with the State of Pennsylvania for 
two thousand, and in 1809 with the United States for ten 
thousand, muskets. He thereupon erected the Boulton gun- 
works, near Nazareth, and in 1808 a forge to manufacture 
refined bar-iron. This settlement of his grandfather at 
Nazareth with the Moravians, to whose church he belonged, 
had, as has already been said, much influence on the life 
of John Jordan, Jr. 

It is interesting in this connection to notice the blending 
of blood which the marriage of John Jordan, Sr., and 
Elizabeth Henry exhibits, — the French Huguenot, the 
sturdy German, the firm, decided Scotch-Irish. As a great 
statesman has said of this blood, "there is none better, 
none braver, none truer. There is in it an inheritance of 
courage, of manliness, of imperishable love of liberty, of 
undying adherence to principle." 

John Jordan, Jr., received his earliest literary education 
at a school on Front Street, near Arch Street, taught by a 
pedagogue well known in that day, one Peter Widders. 
After this he began the study of the Latin and Greek lan- 
guages and mathematics, under the care of Dr. James P. 
Espy, whose famous treatise on the " Philosophy of Storms" 
gained for him the title of " the Storm-King." Among his 
fellow-students were the late Dr. Wm. W. Gerhard and 
John C. Trau twine, Esq. Espy was a man of great enthu- 
siasm and well fitted to interest and instruct a bright scholar 
such as he himself describes young Jordan to be. In the 
year 1826, John Jordan, Jr., entered the University of Penn- 
sylvania. He was a favorite with his classmates, and was 
early elected a member of the Philomathean, the popular 
college society of that day. But his health, which had 
never been robust, by application to his studies became still 



xii In Memoi-y of John Jordan, Jr. 

more affected, and an impairment of his sight compelled 
liim reluctantly to retire from the University at the close of 
his Junior year. But the friendships formed during his brief 
college stay continued during life. Among his classmates 
were the late Dr. Joseph Carson, while of those who survive 
him are the Hon. Isaac Hazlehurst, John Ashhurst, Sr., 
Henry Pratt McKeau, and Robert B. Davison. When but 
a boy of ten or twelve years he had been sent to Nazareth, 
Pa., to spend the summer months. Here his grandfather 
Henry lived, and here, though never a resident pupil at 
Nazareth Hall, he was permitted, with his cousin, James 
Henry, to attend as a day-scholar. " But what we most 
enjoyed," writes his now venerable relative, " were the long 
walks with our dear grandpa in the forest or in fishing in 
the Bushkill creek." Here the young Philadelphian re- 
gained much of the health he had lost in the city. Mr. 
Jordan always retained a warm affection for the companions 
and scenes of his youth, and was accustomed in later life to 
pass a part of each year in Nazareth or its vicinity. 

So much better suited to his health had his life in the 
country proved, that in his early manhood Mr. Jordan was 
induced to accept a proposal made him by his uncle, and 
join him in the manufacture of bar-iron, a business for a 
time carried on by them near Stroudsburg, Monroe County, 
Pa. A little later they removed to the Oxford furnace, 
near Belvidere, N. J. While operating this latter the ex^ 
periment was made by them of applying anthracite coal 
to the production of pig metal, but this, along with simi- 
lar experiments made elsewhere at this date, proved unsuc- 
cessful. 

The changes in the tariff, which paralyzed the iron trade, 
induced Mr. Jordan to retire from this business, and he 
returned to Philadelphia, where he became a partner in the 



Addresses and Proceedings. xiii 

house founded by his uncle, in 1783, continued by his father 
and brothers, and which is now successfully carried on by 
his nephews in the old house, Third and Race Streets, 
covering a period of continuous business for more than a 
hundred years. 

In the year 1847, March 8, Mr. Jordan was made Presi- 
dent of the Manufacturers' and Merchants' bank, of which 
he had been for some years previously a director. The 
period of his presidency, from 1847 to 1875, embraced the 
most critical times in our national history, — the financial 
panic of 1857, and the uncertainties of business incident to 
the breaking out of our Civil War, but at no time during 
his administration of the affairs of the bank were its divi- 
dends when due passed by unpaid.* 

It was during this Presidency of Mr. Jordan that the first 
steps were taken for a concert of action by the officers of 
the banks which have led to the establishment of what is 
now known as The Clearing- House Association of the Banks 
of Philadelphia, an organization rendered necessary by the 
vast increase of the banking business, and which, by ena- 
bling the debits and credits of different banks to be ex- 
changed and settled by checks, instead of by the transpor- 
tation of coin or of circulating notes, effects a vast saving 
of time and labor, and gives greater security in the trans- 
action. 

^ On the retirement of Mr. Jordan from the Presidency of the bank, 
May 28, 1875, resolutions were adopted by the Board of Directors ex- 
pressing their " high appreciation of the care, fidelity, and good judg- 
ment with which, for more than thirty-two years, he has discharged his 
responsible duties. We trust that he may yet enjoy many years of con- 
tinued health and happiness." A resolution was also adopted, " as a 
further mark of our esteem and confidence, that a suitable testimonial 
be prepared, and presented to Mr. Jordan, and that he be requested to 
sit for a portrait, at his convenience, to be the property of the Bank. 



xiv In Memory of John Jordan, Jr. 

Such an institution had long existed in London, and later 
in Boston and in ITew York,, but it was not until September, 
1853, that the meeting above referred to was called. How 
far the proposal may have originated with Mr. Jordan, it is 
impossible to tell, as he was himself the last survivor of 
those who then met ; but the fact that he was chosen secre- 
tary of the preliminary meeting, and served as such for 
many years after the organization was effected, shows that 
he took an active interest in the movement.^ The 
original minute of the first meeting reads thus : " The un- 
dersigned, being of the opinion that periodical meetings of 
the Presidents of the several Banks of the City and County 
of Philadelphia, for the purpose of conference and inter- 
change of views on such topics as will be considered proper 
subjects of discussion and action, will tend to promote 
stability and regularity in the business of banking, do 
hereby agree to meet on Wednesday, 28th current, at the 
Philadelphia Bank, at one o'clock, and thenceforward at 
such time and place as may be decided upon." 

Signed by fifteen Bank Presidents. 

"John Jordan, Jr., Secretary.^" 

^ Mr. Jordan acted as secretary until January, 1867, when his resig- 
nation was tendered and accepted. He resigned from the Clearing- 
House Committee in 1869, and was succeeded by our fellow-member, 
James V. Watson, Esq., President of the Consolidation National Bank. 

"^ The names signed are Thomas Allibone, President of Bank of Penn- 
sylvania; Thomas Robins, President of Bank of Philadelphia; John 
Richardson, President of Bank of North America ; Singleton A. Mercer, 
President of Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank ; Jacob M. Thomas, Presi- 
dent of Commercial Bank ; James B. Mitchell, President of Mechanics' 
Bank; Robert L. Pittfield, President of Bank of Northern Liberties; 
Joseph Wainwright, President of Kensington Bank ; Joseph Patterson, 
President of Western Bank ; John Jordan, Jr., President of Manufac- 
turers' and Mechanics' Bank ; Adolph E. Borie, President of Bank of 



Addresses and Proceedings. xv 

The association of Bank Presidents continued their meet- 
ings to the common advantage of the banks there repre- 
sented. At the meeting held December 14, 1857, the sub- 
ject of a Clearing-House was brought forward, and it was 
resolved, " That this subject be referred to a committee of 
five members of this body, with instructions to prepare a 
plan and code of rules to govern the institution and to 
report to the Board." 

At the following meeting this report was produced and 
adopted. The Clearing-House Association permits as 
its members the presidents of the banks, vice-president, or 
cashier, or such other person as the board of directors shall 
appoint, while the older association was made up exclu- 
sively of the bank presidents. The two organizations con- 
tinued each to hold its meetings theoretically independent 
of each other, but as the two were largely composed of the 
same men having similar interests, on April 7, 1882, they 
were merged into one association, under the title of the 
Clearing-House Association of the Bank Presidents of 
Philadelphia. This association very soon appointed the 
Clearing-House Committee, on whom most of the active 
work depends. 

The first committee consisted of Messrs. C. H. Rogers, 
Edwin M. Lewis, John Jordan, Jr. (Secretary), James M. 
Dickson, and our esteemed fellow-citizen and fellow-mem- 
ber, Benjamin B. Comegys, who is now the only survivor 
of the five. 

How large are the interests involved in the transactions 
of the Clearing-House may be judged from the fact that it 
is quite common for exchanges to be made to the amount 

Commerce ; Charles S. Boker, President of Girard Bank ; Charles H. 
Eogers, President of Tradesmen's Bank ; James S. Smith, Jr., President 
of Southwark Bank ; Elijah Dallett, President of Penn Township Bank. 



xvi In 3Iemory of John Jordan, Jr. 

of from twelve to fourteen millions of dollars dail}'-, while 
the great security which this mode of conducting business 
aifords, is shown in the fact that from the organization of 
the Philadelphia Clearing-House nearly sixty-four thousand 
millions of dollars have passed through it without any 
loss. 

Another organization in the establishment of which John 
Jordan, Jr., took an active part, was what is now known as 
The North Pennsylvania Railroad Company. The need for 
direct, speedy communication between Philadelphia and 
the Upper Delaware and Lehigh Rivers had long been 
recognized. The rich products of the field, the forest, and 
the mine naturally belonged to the chief city of the State 
in which they w^ere found. To the tourist and man of 
leisure the marvellous beauty of this region was well 
known, but much of it could be enjoyed only after long 
and tedious driving in a private carriage, or in the slow and 
antiquated stage-coach. To facilitate transportation of mer- 
chandise a line of continuous canals was constructed, useful 
to some degree, but very far from fully meeting the actual 
need. Meanwhile, the city of New York, ever alive to its 
ow^n interests and prompt to secure them, sought to divert 
to her own uses the trade of this region. A great loss to 
Philadelphia seemed imminent, when a town meeting was 
called in Sansom Street Hall, and an address was read 
calling attention to these facts, and urging the necessity for 
prompt aid in the construction of a railroad from Phila- 
delphia to the Lehigh, " there to connect with a road about 
to be commenced from Easton to Mauch Chunk, to Wil- 
liamsport, "Wilkesbarre, and along the Valley of the l^orth 
Branch, thus placing the whole Lehigh Valley in direct 
communication with Philadelphia." 

In this proposed road Mr. Jordan took an active interest 



Addresses and Pt'od 

from its inception. He knew the region well. It was asso- 
ciated with many of the happiest days of his youth, and of 
his maturer years. Before this address was issued he was 
at the first meeting of the incorporated Philadelphia, Easton 
and Water-Gap Railroad, as the proposed road was known 
in its charter, in which his name appears as one of the cor- 
porators. This meeting was held at the Eagle Hotel, Third 
above Race Streets, August 17, 1852. 

On almost every page the early minutes show the active 
interest of Mr. Jordan. " On motion of Mr. Jordan, Thos. S. 
Fernon was appointed secretary of the board." Again, "On 
motion of Mr. Jordan, William B. Foster was elected chief 
engineer." " On motion of Mr. Jordan, the salary of the 
chief engineer was fixed at" such and such a rate. " On 
motion of Mr. Jordan, the thanks of the board are pre- 
sented to James M. Porter, Esq., and John M. Read, Esq., for 
addresses delivered in the interests of this corporation." 

Mr. Jordan was appointed on the committee to draft the 
first by-laws ; he was early made a member of the Com- 
mittee on the Road. On February 7, 1853, he was placed 
on the Committee of Finance, a position in which he 
faithfully served up to the time of his death, a period of 
nearly forty years. Time would fail me to give further 
historical details on the subject of the road or of his connec- 
tion with it, nor is it necessary ; enough has already been 
adduced to show the commanding influence, if such a term 
may be applied to one who was rarely known " to command," 
which his probity and his integrity of character gave Mr. 
Jordan in whatever business associations he was placed. 
Some years later, October 3, 1853, on motion of John Jor- 
dan, Jr., the road took the name of the North Pennsylvania 
Railroad, by which it is now so widely known. Its history 
has been a varied one, sometimes with a financial outlook 



xviii 7/1 Memory of John Jordan, Jr. 

of a most discouraging cliaracter; but in all the chances and 
changes of its existence, Mr. Jordan was ever its earnest, 
zealous friend, attending, unless prevented by illness, all its 
meetings, ready with his counsel when it was needed, and 
prompt to aid it from his own means when it was finan- 
cially embarassed, never doubting its ultimate prosperity, 
a conviction which, happily, he lived to see fully confirmed. 

I have thus far spoken of John Jordan, Jr., in his active 
business life. I come now to speak of the details of another 
period of his life which appeal very strongly to the love 
and gratitude of the members of the Historical Society of 
Pennsylvania. 

Mr. Jordan was elected a member of the Historical 
Society of Pennsylvania, September 23, 1840, and, with 
the exception of the Presidency, which he positively de- 
clined to accept, as Vice-President, member of the Execu- 
tive Council, Corresponding Secretary, Eecording Secre- 
tary, Trustee of the Publication Fund, of the Library 
Fund, of the Gilpin Fund, the Endowment Fund, he has 
filled almost every official position in the Society.^ 

Mr. Jordan's active interest in the Historical Society 
dates from a very short time after his election in 1840, and 
in less than two years he was chosen a member of its 
Council. 

Almost immediately after this his name appears on the 
list of those presenting books to the Society. The care and 
judgment shown in the selection of these gifts and the reg- 
ularity with which they were made prove that his heart was 

^ From the close of this paragraph to that including the letter from 
Mr. Jordan I am indebted to Frederick D. Stone, Esq., whose personal 
friendship and close association with Mr. Jordan so well qualify him to 
write of the latter'g devotion to the Historical Society, and of much that 
is interesting in his private life. — J. J. L. 



Addresses and Proceedings. xix 

entirely in the work, and that his efforts to improve the con- 
dition of the Society were directed by an intelligent knowl- 
edge of what it needed, born of an active participation in 
its management. This generosity extended to every de- 
partment of the Society, but so modest was he that he has 
allowed but a partial record of it to appear on our minutes. 
Indeed, so little did he allow the left hand to know what 
the right hand did, that it seems almost like a violation of 
confidence now to state the little that can be gathered from 
those who knew in a general way what he was doing from 
their associations with him. For quite a number of years 
his expenditures for the Society amount to at least a thou- 
sand dollars annually ; and some time during the war, be- 
tween 1861-1865, it was learned accidentally from him that 
he had spent for the Society, from one time to another, over 
thirty thousand dollars. 

He never lost an opportunity to benefit the Society, when 
in his opinion an important object could be accomplished 
either by gifts or timely aid. Nothing better illustrates this 
than the establishment of our Publication Fund. The idea 
of forming such a fund was conceived and carried out by 
the late Townsend "Ward, who in doing it received substan- 
tial assistance from Mr. Jordan, which he never hesitated to 
acknowledge. When asked how it was possible that the 
Fund could publish and pay for a volume which cost more 
than double the income received from all sources, without 
spending any of the capital, Mr. Ward replied that there 
was no difficulty about it, as Mr. Jordan paid all the bills, 
and would wait until it was convenient for the Trustees to 
repay him out of the interest to be received. The fund 
thus formed and so carefully nursed by Mr. Jordan amounts 
now to more than thirty thousand dollars. 

Besides the numerous donations of books made by Mr. 



XX In 3femory of John Jordan, Jr. 

Jordan, he subscribed liberally to the First and Second 
Building Funds, to the Library and Endowment Funds, to 
the Penn Papers, and to pretty much everything the Society 
ever undertook to purchase. 

By his suggestion, and largely at his expense, copies were 
made of the records of the monthly meetings of Friends in 
different parts of Pennsylvania, thus preserving the details 
of the inner life of many of the early settlers of Pennsyl- 
vania unattainable in any other way. The interest he took 
in the purchase of the building we now occupy is remem- 
bered by all then active in the management of the Society. 
llTever for a moment after the matter was undertaken did 
he allow a doubt to enter his mind of its accomplishment. 
He used his influence to the full extent to obtain subscrip- 
tions, and nearly every subscription received by mail he 
acknowledged by letter and in suitable terms. Well re- 
membered, too, is the satisfaction he manifested when the 
committee, after having raised by personal solicitation about 
one-half the sum required, issued an appeal to all the mem- 
bers, telling them what had been done and calling upon 
them for aid, and received enough in a few days to complete 
the purchase and to secure an additional lot, upon a part of 
which the hall we now are in stands. 

At last the Society he so dearly loved, and to which he 
had devoted so much time and money, was to have a home 
of its own, where it would be safe for all future time. 
"While he was too modest to acknowledge it, or even to 
permit such a thought to enter his mind, his friends knew 
that this had been accomplished largely through the confi- 
dence in the Society which he had inspired in the commu- 
nity. This was shown not only in the j)romptness with 
which some of the largest subscriptions were made, but in 
the fact that three hundred and twenty-three subscriptions 



Addresses and Proceedings. xxi 

were received in sums varying from one dollar to one hun- 
dred dollars. It showed, as Mr. Wallace then said, that 
" when the name of John Jordan, Jr., was affixed to a paper 
it inspired confidence wherever it went." 

Mr Jordan never had robust health. Indeed, he has said 
that he never knew what it was to be healthy until he had 
reached middle life, a period which, as a young man, he 
never expected to attain. He was very near-sighted, which 
later in life gave an appearance of increased infirmity, and 
for years he rarely walked out at night alone. On account 
of his delicate health he was obliged to take gentle and 
regular exercise, and for many years rode on horseback 
almost daily. One of his favorite rides, and which left the 
most pleasing recollections, was over the old river road 
along the banks of the Schuylkill. 

For years, whenever he visited Bethlehem or N'azareth, he 
did so in a private conveyance, and continued this practice 
until the decadence of the inns along the route and ad- 
vancing years deprived him of the keen enjoyment derived 
from such trips. Sometimes his excursions were of a 
wider range and partook of the character of historical pil- 
grimages. In 1855, one hundred years after Braddock's 
defeat, Mr. and Mrs. Jordan, Paul Weber, Edward Arm- 
strong, and Townsend Ward took the cars for Pittsburg, 
and passed several days in visiting Braddock's Field and 
other points of interest in the vicinity. On another occa- 
sion, with a congenial party of friends, he visited the sites of 
the Moravian Missionary Settlements in J!:Tew York and 
Connecticut, and was present at the dedication of monu- 
ments erected at these places by the Moravian Historical 
Society, of which he was an active member. In 1870, with 
a number of members of the same society, he visited the 
site of Freidenshiitten, near Wyalusing, Penna., where a 



xxii In Memory of John Jordan, Jr. 

memorial stone, whicli he had prepared, was placed with 
appropriate ceremonies. 

Mr. Jordan's acquaintance with the material relating to 
the history of Pennsylvania was as great or greater than 
that of any of our other members. He superintended the 
classification of the Society's manuscripts, which are now 
bound, and personally did all but the purely mechanical 
work on many of the volumes. In this way he obtained a 
knowledge of much that related to the unprinted history of 
the State. 

Besides this, he was a great reader, and until a very few 
years midnight found him with his books. He was con- 
versant with nearly every printed authority of an historical 
or biographical nature relating to Pennsylvania, and only a 
few years ago read systematically the twenty-eight volumes 
containing the Archives and Colonial Records of the State. 
He was also familiar with the manuscript and printed col- 
lections of the Moravian Church, and his excellent memory 
enabled him to turn at once to any important fact that he 
met with in his studies. His memory, indeed, was so good 
that unfortunately he never felt the importance of making 
notes or of reducing the result of his investigations to 
writing, and it is doubtful if a single page remains to testify 
to the acumen of his learning. Besides his taste for his- 
torical, Mr. Jordan was very fond of general, literature, and, 
in fiction, Scott, Cooper, Dickens, and Thackeray were his 
favorite authors. Although he never acquired the habit of 
speaking either French or German, he read both languages 
with ease, and some portion of each day was devoted to 
them. 

Mr. Jordan had a keen sense of humor, and was quick to 
discern the comic side of human nature. Nothing was more 
agreeable to him than to meet his friends at social gather- 



Addresses and Proceedings. xxiii 

ings where, in company with a few of those who knew him 
best, all restraint could be laid aside, and reminiscences and 
anecdotes furnished the topic of conversation. This lighter 
vein of character was not confined to his personal relations 
with others, but influenced his taste in reading. A truly 
humorous book afforded him great amusement, and in the 
Anniversary edition of the Pickwick Papers, illustrated 
with views of places made memorable by the associations 
which the genius of Dickens has woven around them, he 
found an especial satisfaction. While no one engaged in 
collecting material for an historical work ever failed to 
enlist his sympathies, or to receive from him such assistance 
as he could afford, there have no doubt been some whose 
enthusiasm was at times dampened by Mr. Jordan's love of 
accuracy, as he invariably advised beginners that accuracy 
in collecting and stating facts was absolutely necessary, and 
that without this such papers were better left unprinted. 

This love of accuracy made him ver}^ impatient at times 
at the way in which history is treated in many of the news- 
papers. There was perhaps but one other thing which 
more disturbed the equanimity of our friend than this, 
w^hich was that, after having generously and at some 
trouble assisted in genealogical investigations, to find that 
the only motive of the inquirer was that he might recover 
an immense fortune in the possession of some banking 
institution of Europe, the directors of which were extremely 
anxious to pay it over to the proper persons. 

Nothing can better conclude a record of Mr. Jordan's 
many services to the Society than the letter he sent to the 
Council communicating to his fellow-members his last and 
crowning act of generosity. 

It is as follows : 



xxiv In Memory of John Jordan, Jr. 

Philadelphia, February 23, 1889. 
To the Hon. James T. Mitchell, Chairman, and to the memhei^s 
of the Council of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania : 

Gentlemen, — About 1841 I was one of those who sub- 
scribed for the purchase of the first book-case received by 
the Society. From that time I have watched with interest 
the growth of the Library, and, notwithstanding the spacious 
quarters now occupied by the Society, feel convinced that in 
a very short time it will need additional space for the proper 
storage of books that are being constantly added to its col- 
lections. I long ago resolved that whatever I could do to 
promote the interests of the Society I would endeavor to do 
during my lifetime, and I now wish to provide for the con- 
tingency I have spoken of. 

After consulting with your librarian regarding the erec- 
tion of such a building as will be needed, I directed him to 
have plans prepared which will be submitted to you. They 
provide for the erection of a fire-proof building on the 13th 
Street front of the lot in the rear of the Hall. It is to be so 
constructed that the entire building can eventually be used 
for the storage of books, but for the present the second floor 
can be used for the display of objects of interest belonging 
to the Society, as I believe such objects in safe quarters will 
attract other collections. 

The plans are subject to your approval, and any alterations 
you may suggest that do not involve additional cost will be 
considered. 

When everything is decided upon I propose to deposit 
with the Treasurer of the Society and the Trustees of 
the Library Fund the sum of fifteen thousand dollars 
($15,000), the estimated cost of the building to be used for 
its erection. 

If in the future the present property occupied by the 
Society should be sold and the money received for it should 
be more than is required for the purchase or erection of a 
new building, I would like the sum I now propose to give to 



Addresses and P) 

be deducted from it and given to the Trustees of tlie Library 
Fund, to be invested by them and the interest only used for 
the objects of the Trust, but I do not make this any con- 
dition of the gift. 

Respectfully, 

John Jordan, Jr. 

This generous offer was promptly and gratefully accepted 
by the President and Council, and preparations were at once 
made for the construction of the fire-proof annex with which 
you are now familiar. The dimensions of this structure 
between the walls are forty-two by twenty-three feet. It 
conforms with the architecture of the main building and is 
thoroughly fire-proof. It is two stories high. The upper, 
twenty-one and one-half feet high, is devoted to the exhi- 
bition of manuscripts and rare works and pictm-es. The 
first floor is divided by an open iron floor, making two 
stories, each seven and one-half feet high. On these two 
floors between thirty and forty thousand volumes can be 
stored in shelves. When more room for books may be 
required, the upper story can be divided into three floors 
similar to the lower floor. The total capacity of the stack 
will be between seventy-five and one hundred thousand 
volumes. ]^o change is proposed to be made on the upper 
fioor before another fire-proof building is prepared for the 
choice and rare collections of MSS. and books. It may, 
perhaps, be properly stated here, that when Mr. Jordan 
joined the Society its library numbered fifty volumes; to- 
day it numbers thirty-five thousand. 

At a stated meeting held May 6, 1889, the President 
announced to the society this gift of Mr. Jordan. Appro- 
priate remarks were made, but an intimation had been 
received by those taking active part in the proceedings 
that it would be most grateful to Mr. Jordan if but little 



xxvi In Memory of John Jordan, Jr. 

reference of a personal character were made to the donor. 
With his characteristic modesty, Mr. Jordan was not pres- 
ent at the meeting. 

The building itself is a fitting type of the character of 
him who gave it : plain and unpretending, yet solid and 
enduring. The superb and unique collection of Colonial 
Laws, the gift of Mrs. Charlemagne Tower, followed, as it 
has been, by another most valuable collection of a different 
character and from a different source, to which I may now 
only thus allude, already show the correctness of the con- 
viction expressed by Mr. Jordan, that the security thus 
afforded would attract to the Society more objects of interest 
and value. Thus the influence of Mr. Jordan continues to 
be exerted for the good of our Society, though he himself is 
no longer with us. Had Mr. Jordan given nothing else to 
the Society than this building, it were fitting that his name 
be held in perpetual remembrance. But this is by no 
means the greatest service he has rendered it. Rather is 
this to be found in the unwearied devotion to its interests 
for half a century, in his liberality, " constant, though con- 
cealed," in his judicious counsels, in his fearless courage, 
which inspired confidence in the community and hope for 
the Society among its members, a confidence crowned with 
success. There is not a shelf in these cases which has not 
on it one or more books placed there directly or indirectly 
by him; there is scarcely a manuscript which he has not 
examined; on every side is seen the work of his hand; 
never were the words more appropriate, — 

" Si monumentum requiris, circumspice." 

Imperfect as any sketch of our honored Vice-President 
must be, it would be yet more incomplete were no mention 
made of his religious faith and life. 



Addresses and Proceedings. xxvii 

By inlieritance and family connection Mr. Jordan was a 
Moravian, a church for which he retained a warm affection 
all his life long. This was shown by his intimate friend- 
ship with its most earnest members, by his generous con- 
tributions to its various needs, and by his deep interest in 
its history.^ 

1 Among these last may be briefly named, — through his exertions 
largely, the Moravian Historical Society was founded in 1857 and its 
Publication Fund established, which has issued two volumes of over 
five hundred pages each, and the third volume now preparing of the 
History of the Moravians in Pennsylvania. He took a deep interest in 
the history of Moravians in Pennsylvania, and can be credited directly 
or indirectly with the publication of the following works : 

1. " Life of John Heckewelder." By Eev. Edward Rendthaler, 1847. 

2. "A History of Nazareth Hall, 1755-1855." By Eev. Levin T. 
Reichel, 1855. A second and enlarged edition by Rev. W. C. Reicheh 
1869. 

3. " Sketches of Moravian Life and Character." By James Henry, 
1859. 

4. "Memorial of the Dedication of Monuments erected by the 
Moravian Historical Society to mark the Sites of Ancient Missionary 
Stations in New York and Connecticut," 1860. 

5. " Memorials of the Moravian Church." By Rev. W. C. Reichel, 
1870, and a number of monographs. 

To mark the sites of Indian (Moravian) mission stations he had 
memorial stones erected at the following places : 

Shecomeco and Wechquadnach, in New York and Connecticut, 1860, 
the sites of the first labors of the Moravians among the Indians. At 
Wyalusing (Bradford County, Pa.), in 1871 (an Indian Mission between 
1765-1772), and he largely aided in the erection of the monument over 
the grave of David Zeisberger, in Ohio, who for upward of forty years 
was a missionary among the Indians. 

In 1870 he purchased the " Whitefield House" and lot, at Nazareth, Pa. 
By deed of trust he conveyed it to " the Society for the Propagation of the 
Gospel" of the Moravian Church, for the use of missionaries who were 
resting from service, reserving the second floor for the use of the Mora- 
vian Historical Society. This house was being erected by George 



xxviii In Memory of John Jordan, Jr. 

It fell to Mr. Jordan's lot in early manhood to be 
brought into close association with members of the Re- 
ligious Society of Friends, whose purity of life, quiet, gentle 
manners, and integrity of character won his love for their 
faith, as it did his heart for one of their number, who for 
more than half a century since has been his devoted wife. 
In the year 1833 he was received into membership, was 
married at the Friends' Meeting-Iiouse, Stroudsburg, Mon- 
roe County, 4mo. 3, 1834, to Jane, daughter of James and 
Susan Bell, of Experiment Mills, in the same county ; and 
for the remainder of his life was a member of the Religious 
Society of Friends. 

The line which separated these two religious bodies was 
not a broad nor impassable one. They were both charac- 
terized by plainness in their mode of worship, and by a 
common faith in a risen Lord. James Logan, writing 
March 30, 1742, says, " Last ftill there came over a German 
Count of the title of Zensendorf, of a good estate as well as 
family and education, I suppose between forty and fifty 
years. He wears his own hair and is in all respects very 
plain, as making the propagation of the Gospel his whole 
purpose and business. He and his people are so much for 
universal charity that without binding themselves to any 
form they join themselves with all professions that profess 
to be inwardly guided by the Spirit of Christ, for [they say] 
if the heart be right, they dispense with all the rest as the 
exteriors in worship of a more indiflerent nature." 

Whitefield, for an Orphan House, but was purchased by the Moravians 
when Whitefield became financially involved. 

In 1889 he erected a large annex, costing ten thousand dollars, to the 
Widows' House at Bethlehem. This house he some years before pur- 
chased, endowed, and deeded to the Church, for a home for the widows 
of clergymen of the Church forever. 



Addresses and Proceedings. xxix 

This being " guided by the Spirit of Christ," though not 
exclusively the doctrine of " The Friends," was, in the be- 
ginning of their history, the one which was prominently put 
forward by them. William Penn calls it their characteristic 
doctrine. However flippantly other men might speak of 
being " moved by the spirit," to them this faith in the 
Divine presence in the heart was a solemn, actual reality. 

"I saw," said Fox, "that Christ died for all men, and 
had enlightened all men and women with his divine and 
saving light." But this doctrine, and the results which 
follow its acceptance, found little favor in the voluptuous 
court of Charles, as its simplicity had little place in the cold 
formalities of the Commonwealth. But it was this which 
Fox and his coadjutors preached, and, as in the days of the 
early church, everywhere the common people heard them 
gladly. 

Yet neither Fox nor Barclay ever claimed that the doctrine 
was a new one or peculiar to themselves. They understood 
the human heart too well not to know that this yearning 
for a Divine companionship had been the cry of that heart 
in all ages and among almost a,ll peoples. The savage 
finds it in the Great Spirit. The Hebrew psalmist recognizes 
it in the words, " Whither shall I flee from thy presence ?" 
It was ro datfiovtov — the Divine One of the wise Athenian. It 
was confirmed in the promise of the Holy Comforter ; the 
apostles preached it; the early fathers of the church held 
and taught it, — " I sought Thee without me," says Augustin, 
" and lo ! Thou wast within me !" It was this Divine pres- 
ence which moulded the character of John Tauler and 
made him fearless amid pestilence and death. It led the 
Count Zinzendorf to renounce the luxuries of the German 
Court for the rude wigwam and the ruder life of the Indian. 
And now, in our time, so steady is the growth of this 



XXX In llemory of John Jordan, Jr. 

belief of the Divine presence in the heart of all men, that 
a learned and good man, in a recent widely-read essay, 
proposes to call it " The New Theology," as opposed to 
" The No Theology" of the present day.^ 

In the full acceptance of this doctrine, John Jordan, Jr., 
was thoroughly a Friend. For the mere externals of re- 
ligion, whether these be found in the peculiar garb of the 
Quaker, or in the ritual of the Churchman, he personally 
cared but little. With that largeness of heart which was 
characteristic of him, he was ever ready to believe that in 
obedience to apprehended duty the one might have greater 
peace of mind in wearing the Friendly dress, while he did 
not, for a moment, doubt that in the solemn rite of his 
Church the other might find a most comfortable sacrament. 
But, for himself, resting in simple faith in the Indwelling 
Christ, he sought, by His aid, to make his daily life con- 
formable to the Divine pattern, and himself worthy of the 
Divine companionship. And so as the outcome of this were 
found in him those graces of character, gentleness, meek- 
ness, goodness, which are declared to be the fruit of the 
Spirit. 

There comes to every one whose life is not prematurely 
cut ofit' a time in that life to which most men look forward 
with anxiety, some with dread. It is well described in the 
memorable words addressed to the active, impulsive disci- 
ple, Simon Peter, — " When thou wast young thou girdedst 
thyself and walkedst whither thou wouldst ; but ivhen thou 
shall be old thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another 
shall gird thee and carry thee whither thou wouldst not." 
This loss of individual liberty and strength, this dependence 
on others which sooner or later must come to every one of 

^ " No Theology and New Theology," by Rev. Lyman Abbott. — The 
Forum, April, 1890. 



Addresses and Pr 

us, is a condition whicli few men can contemplate with 
complacency. Happy is tliat man who finds in a son's 
strong arm or in a daughter's tender care the help which 
he then so much needs ! 

Mr. Jordan reached this time of life and recognized it. 
Eighty years had been passed, and he was now well on 
his ninth decade. In a letter written August 26, 1889, he 
writes from ITazareth, " I eat and sleep well, and that is all 
I can say : reading does not go so well. I am obliged to 
discontinue writing, and often have my table covered with 
letters. I cannot walk out, and must depend on my horses, 
my knees are so stiff." 

Coming home in the autumn, he says, " We came home 
safely on Saturday without ill effects, although I feel weak 
and cannot expect to be able to attend to anything this 
week, but will come to the hall very shortly for a time 
when the weather is favorable. All unfavorable symptoms 
have passed away, leaving only weakness." 

" I am living on borrowed time," were words which now 
often fell from his lips, but they were not uttered complain- 
ingly. 

Age, indeed, brought with it an increase of infirmities, 
but it brought with it also many blessings. Among these 
were the increased love of friends, the gratitude of indi- 
viduals, the respect of the community. But choicest 
among these blessings was the spared life of her who for 
more than half a century had been the joy of his heart, as 
she was always the light of his home. With this, too, was 
the tender care of those who, though not his children, were 
so nearly allied to him by blood, and so closely bound to 
him by affection, that they left no place in his heart unfilled, 
as they left no want un cared for. 

Words written at this time by one of his own faith and 



xxxii In Memory of John Jordan, Jr. 

of his own years appealed to his heart with especial force 
and appropriateness. 

" What matter that it is not May, 

That birds have flown, and trees are bare, 
That darker grows the shortened day, 
And colder blows the wintry air? 



" Whatever perished with my 

I only know the best remains ; 
A. song of praise is on my lips. 
For losses which are now my gains. 

" And life, no longer chance or fate. 
Safe in the gracious Fatherhood, 
I fold o'erwearied hands — and wait, 
In calm reliance on the good," 

But I must not longer encroach on this hour, and jQi I 
well know how far short of what I should say have heen 
my utterances. 

I have indeed been amazed — I do not use too strong a 
term — at the wealth of material which has flowed to my 
hands for the performance of the duty assigned me, hut 
which I can only imperfectly make use of to-night. 

I mention the name of John Jordan, Jr., to a friend, and 
he says, "Yes, he was a contributor to our School Fund;" 
to another, and he replies, "He gave to our Freedmen;" 
a third says, "He was a subscriber to our Bible Society;" 
while another writes, " He was a life-member of our For- 
estry Association ; we shall much miss him." Private let- 
ters come, whose confidence I would not unduly betray, in 
which one writes, " When I was a helpless orphan, Mr. 
Jordan nobly came forward and took the place of a father 
to me ;" another, " For years I was largely indebted to him 



Addresses and Proceedings. xxxiii 

for help in financial matters which few would have given;" 
says another, " I am far from having attained to his stand- 
ard, but such as I am, I am all the better for his influence, 
which was always for good." One of our most prosperous 
citizens, after using words too sacred to be quoted, even 
here, adds, " If I have been in any way successful in my 
calling, I owe it largely to his friendship and help." 

For some years past Mr. Jordan had suffered from occa- 
sional attacks of faintness, increased in frequency by any 
great exertion, and largely due to a feebly-acting heart. 
On the first day of January, 1890, he was seized with paral- 
3'sis affecting the entire right side.^ From this he regained 
consciousness, was able to articulate, though but indis- 
tinctly, and his mind, though at times somewhat obscured, 
was less so than generally happens in this condition. 

Mr. Jordan's death was in harmony with his life. Spared 
the agony of pain, the delirium of fever, and the last fierce 
struggle of life, which make the bed of death terrible, 
with him there was the quiet, gradual failure, day by day, 
of strength, until, on the morning of March 23, calmly as to 
a night's repose, he passed into that sleep which, on earth, 
knows no waking. 

Hon. Samuel W. Pennypacker on behalf of the Com- 
mittee appointed by the Council to prepare a suitable 
minute, read the following resolution : 

Resolved, That the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, in 
the death of John Jordan, Jr., whose membership began 
September 23, 1840, and ended with his life, March 23, 1890, 
has met with no ordinary loss. During this long period of 

^ It is an interesting fact, that the last act performed by Mr. Jordan's 
right hand, before it was paralyzed, was to write a bank-check, as a gift 
to the Women's Guild of the Century Club of Philadelphia. 
3 



xxxiv In Memory of John Jordan, Jr. 

nearly fifty years he witnessed its early weakness, its many 
and severe struggles with adverse circumstances, and the 
final culmination of its present success. Throughout all of 
its diverse fortunes he gave to it earnest support and gen- 
erous aid. A due recognition of his labors in its behalf 
requires the statement that its influential position among the 
foremost literary institutions of the country is largely to be 
attributed to his exertions. lie contributed his means, as 
is shown not only by the books upon its shelves and the 
portraits upon its w^alls, but also by the buildings in which 
they are housed ; he devoted to it his time, and it received 
the benefit of his intelligent thought. In the bestowal of 
all these good gifts he claimed no personal credit, he ac- 
cepted no especial recognition, and his only reward was the 
silent satisfaction with which he contemplated the results 
achieved. That cause is fortunate, indeed, which has such 
zealous, eflacient, and unselfish support. It is eminently 
fitting, therefore, that the members of this Society should 
make a permanent note of their admiration for his character 
and of their grateful remembrance of his services. 

The Right Rev. J. Mortimer Levering, a Bishop of the 
Moravian Church, moved the adoption of the resolution in 
the following words : 

Mr. President, Ladies, and Gentlemen, — I assume a 
sacred and tender duty in accepting the courteous invitation 
given me to add a few words to others spoken here to-night. 

I come in the name of the Church which I represent, 
bringing its affectionate tribute to the memory of him who 
is in our thoughts this hour. 

I ask that it be added, as a modest sprig, to the evergreen 
garland made up to in wreathe his name by so many who 
called him their friend. 

"What he would not permit us to say while he lived, 
because he shrank from the praise of man, we may freely 



Adch-esses and Proceeding.^. xxxv 

say now, after he has passed away, when we look at the 
works which he has left among us. 

The Moravian Church possesses cherished monuments of 
his wisely-applied beneficence, which elicit not only the 
gratitude, but also the admiration of all of us who appre- 
ciate the delicate thoughtfulnoss and the nnpretentious 
goodness on his part to which they bear witness. 

He sought ont among us places and ways of doing good 
which were peculiarly his own. By these characteristic 
tokens of his interest in the institutions and enterprises of 
the Church, endeared to him by many strong ties, all who 
knew him are constantly reminded of his strongly-marked 
individuality. 

This appeared in a rare blending of the finest antiquarian 
instincts with the most practical philanthropy. In some of 
the most conspicuous mementos of his beneficence which 
remain to the use of the Moravian Chnrch he gratified the 
tastes of the historian and antiquarian and accomplished the 
purposes of the philanthropist in one and the same deed. 

The visitor to Nazareth and Bethlehem who cherishes 
regard for historic remains of the olden time will naturally 
be interested in such structures as the venerable " Whitefield 
House" at Nazareth and the " Widows' House" at Bethle- 
hem. When he is told that both have been secured as the 
perpetual possession of the Church, and placed beyond the 
reach of danger either from vandalism or neglect, he will 
appreciate the spirit of the man who thus cared for the 
preservation of these ancient buildings, so rich in hallowed 
memories. 

When the visitor is further informed that the Whitefield 
House, erected a century and a half ago by the first Mora- 
vian missionaries who penetrated the forests of Pennsyl- 
vania, has, by the provisions of him who rescued it from the 



XXX vi In Memory of John Jordan, Jr. 

dishonor of being used as a common tenement, been con- 
verted into a home for retired missionaries, he will admire 
the well-directed benevolence which turned the historic pile 
to practical accounts in a way so charmingly in keeping 
with its early associations. 

In like manner, every one who learns that the old build- 
ing in Bethlehem, referred to before, with its stately annex, 
built by our venerable friend and finished so shortly before 
his decease, now serves, in accordance with his purpose, as 
a home for the widows of Moravian ministers, and is to be 
sacredly reserved to this noble use, must praise the thought- 
ful charity which brought this about, even if the preserva- 
tion of historic remains does not interest him. 

Some will doubtless recognize with appreciation both of 
the motives which combined in the heart of the benefactor, 
and will be reminded of this blending of motives, when 
they see it so strikingly indicated by the fact that in the 
antique building at ISTazareth, purchased and fitted up by 
him as a Missionary Home, the Moravian Historical Society, 
which he helped to found and nurture, has, in accordance 
with his special provision, a depository for its valuable 
collection, as well as its permanent place of meeting. 

There are other tokens of his warm regard for the past 
and the present work of the Moravian Church which 
deserve grateful acknowledo-ment, and which mie-ht l3e 
spoken of at length. 

Largely through his generous aid, more than one spot 
made historic by the labors, sacrifices, and sufferings of 
Moravian missionaries among the Indians is marked by a 
memorial which tells many a passer-by who knows noth- 
ing of those men and their deeds that the place whereon 
he stands is hoi}' ground. 

His reverence for the resting-places of those heroes of 



Addresses and Proceedings. xxxvii 

the Cross, and of their converts from darkness and sin, has 
rescued more than one abandoned and almost forgotten 
Moravian burial-ground, lying in out-of-the-way places, 
from desecration, and provided for the future preservation 
of these consecrated places. 

Many noble volumes in the library of the Theological 
Seminary of the Church are witnesses of his interest in the 
education of its ministry, which in days past included so 
many of his companions and personal friends. 

But I will not detain you with any further enumeration 
of things which he has done, or of things which were in 
his heart yet to do, and of which he often spoke, but which 
remain unaccomplished because the time was too near for 
him to rest from his labors. Only this I feel constrained 
yet to add. 

The individuals are many for whom I might speak, who 
have been the recipients of his unassuming, quiet benevo- 
lence, bestowed in ways most fine and tender, and who in 
secret bless his memory. 

I believe that when he went up higher, He who saw and 
knew all of these things accorded to him that highest rec- 
ognition which can be given the best deeds of men. 

" Inasmuch as thou hast done it unto one of the least of 
these my brethren, thou hast done it unto me." 

Charles J. Stille, LL.D., seconded the motion and said, — 
It seems to me peculiarly fitting and proper that the 
Historical Society should commemorate the life and services 
of Mr. Jordan. That life, so beautiful in its simplicity and 
so earnest in its work, so given up to the help of others, so 
full of kindness and sympathy for those who, in this ma- 
terialistic age, aspire to be historical scholars, and so filled 
with a sense of the importance and dignity of historical 



xxxviii In Memory of John Jordan, Jr. 

studies ; it seems to me that if we are true to our vocation 
we should not fail in an especial manner to honor and rev- 
erence such a life. 

And this is the place to do honor to his memory. For 
here is the child of his love, the true child of his adoption. 
Nothing is more touching or characteristic than the words 
of affection he uttered as his life was fast waning, — " How 
are they getting on at the Hall ?" 

I need not give a summary of Mr. Jordan's work ; that 
has already been done; but I cannot help saying that it 
ought to be a subject of profound thankfulness to us, as I 
doubt not it was to him, that he was permitted to see the 
child that he had fostered with such infinite care and trouble 
developed into the mature and completed man. 

I am unwilling to disparage the work of any one, living 
or dead, who has had a share in this great work, yet I 
hazard nothing in saying that they who have done most 
will be the first to recognize Mr. Jordan as a leader and 
an exemplar. 

Think of what this Historical Society was fifty years ago. 
Despite all the efforts of its members, at that time it seemed 
to struggle for existence. Its membership was small, its 
quarters were obscure, its finances were insuflicient, its 
library was small, it had no prestige in that, or had no hold 
either on the popular affection or the respect and considera- 
tion of similar societies. When Mr. Jordan joined this 
Society, he did not do it to gratify a passing whim or 
caprice. It was because that love of historical study which 
characterized his whole life was strong within him. During 
a large portion of that active life he was one of the busiest 
men in this busy town, and yet he found time to spend a 
portion of every day in historical study. He found by use 
the deficiencies of our library, and the magnificent collection 



Addresses and Proceedings. xxxix 

we now have had its origin very much in a sense of his own 
needs. His money never ceased to flow freely to supply 
those needs, and I take the opportunity, as a student of 
Pennsylvania history particularly, to express on behalf of 
all such students my sense of our obligations to Mr. Jordan. 

His greatest pleasure seems to have been in witnessing 
the improvement and increasing usefulness of this Society. 
He was the strenuous advocate of those measures, aiding 
them freely by his purse and influence, which culminated 
in the acquisition of this noble Hall for its use. 

We come here to study history, and, if history be " philos- 
ophy teaching by examples," such an example as the history 
of Mr. Jordan's life should not pass unheeded. Here is a 
man, quiet, unpretending, undemonstrative, and yet he has 
built up a monument more enduring than brass; a man 
whose daily business was to make money for other people, 
yet who gave up his leisure time to the most ennobling pur- 
suits ; a man whose growing means were not wasted upon 
self-indulgent gratification, who has taught us that the 
truest use of wealth is to aid others in the pursuit of truth ; 
a man whose shrinking modest}^ shunned public notice and 
newspaper notoriety, who, when his good deeds could be 
covered up no longer, turned away and " blushed to find it 
fame." If this good man's life be a true example to us, let 
our gratitude and reverence place him where he really 
belongs, — foremost among our friends and benefactors. 

The resolution was thereupon unanimously adopted. 

Dr. Stille ofi^ered the following resolution, which was 
unanimously adopted : 

Resolved, That the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 
earnestly desirous of preserving the memory of the services 
rendered to it by the late John Jordan, Jr., request the 



xl 



In Memory of John Jordan, Jr. 



Council to secure for preservation in this Hall a portrait in 
oil of Mr. Jordan. 

Mr. Richardson L. Wright offered a resolution that 
the proceedings of this meeting be printed, which was 
adopted. 

The President expressed in feeling terms the thanks 
of the Society to Dr. Levick for the able manner in 
which he had this evening performed the duty assigned 
to him. 

The meeting then adjourned. 



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